North Macedonia's largest bank, Komercijalna Banka, has announced it is considering a potential merger with Stopanska Banka Bitola. Discussions will be launched with Stopanska Banka Bitola to facilitate an initial exchange of information.

At this early stage, this procedure does not imply a definitive intention to merge and is not legally binding in any capacity, Komercijalna Banka said in a filing with the Skopje bourse.

The purpose is to express an initial interest within the context of gathering information, which may inform a potential future intention to merge. The actual due diligence process will commence following the approval of both banks' final accounts for 2023 during their 2024 meetings.

Stopanska Banka confirmed the information by issuing similar statement.

In the event of the merger, the total number of banks in the country will decrease to 12, with nine of them being primarily under foreign ownership.

Komercijalna Banka Skopje reported total assets of MKD151bn (€2.4bn), whereas Stopanska Banka Bitola held assets amounting to MKD11.7bn at the end of 2022.

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